


Ghosts in the Vents

by TriplePirouette



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26680273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette
Summary: On the eve of Steve's procedure, he and Peggy realize they've met before.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	Ghosts in the Vents

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by Tumblr's bearholdingashark: I wish you would write a Steggy fic where they meet as children (somehow) and then lose touch, only to meet later when Captain America starts. Maybe they don't realize at first they've met before? :)

Margaret Carter did not like being in the hospital. It was cold and sterile and there were too many adults that were trying to tell her what to do. When she fell out of the tree she had hit her head hard, but that didn’t mean something was wrong with her. No, she’d told everyone that would listen that she was eight years old and by golly she was old enough to know that she was just fine.

The doctor didn’t seem to want to listen, and said she’d need to stay the night for observation. She didn’t know why she was there, though, as no one seemed to be observing her and she was left alone for long periods of time and told by under no circumstances to leave the bed.

She didn’t like being in America. The holiday trip was boring and the cousins she was here to meet were not very fun at all. She didn’t like being in the American hospital overnight more. She slipped from the bed, pulled the blanket off because it was really far too cold, and wrapped it around herself before she went to the door. She peaked out, the nurses were there, but they weren’t paying attention to her at all.

Escaping felt like an adventure, and she was always up for an adventure.

She slipped through the hall, looking through the windows to the rooms. Most were empty, but there was one that was full. It held a small boy, just about her age, and he waved to her when he saw her.

She slipped in, smiling shyly. “Hi.”

“Hi.” It came out as a rough croak, his throat raw.

“I’m Margaret.” She stepped in, stopping right by his bed. “What’s your name?”

“Stevie,” he replied, wincing as the word rasped out.

She leaned on his bed, pulling the blanket around her tighter. “Why are you here?”

He shrugged. “I don’t breathe so good, and my throat hurts really bad.” He leaned over, whispering. “How about you?”

“Fell out of a tree slaying a dragon.” She leaned back, brandishing an imaginary sword. “He was really big, and I climbed too high.”

Stevie looked sad. “I’m not allowed to climb trees.”

“Why ever not?” Margaret asked, climbing up and sitting next to him on the bed. “It’s fun.”

He leaned over, whispering. “Cause of my breathing. And my heart isn’t that good. I can’t do a lot of stuff ‘cause my mom says I’ll get really sick if I do.”

“How do you know?” He looked at her quizzically and she slumped, tired of having to explain herself to people today. “How do you know if you can’t do a thing if you’re not allowed to try it?”

Steve leaned back, surprised by the brazen girl. “Because my mom said so.”

Margaret rolled her eyes at him. “Moms don’t know everything.”

“Where are you from? Stevie asked. “You talk funny.”

Margaret’s face pinched in, angry. “You talk funny. And I’m from Hampstead. England.”

Stevie looked at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make ya mad. I just wanted to know.”

Margaret relaxed a little. “It’s ok, I guess.”

“That’s really far away.” He leaned forward. “Are ya scared?”

“Me? Scared?” She huffed, offended again. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

“That’s good.” Stevie sat back. “Because the vents sound like ghosts at night. But they’re not. So, don’t worry about that. And it gets lonely if you can’t sleep.”

Margaret looked him up and down, a frown trying to fight its way on her face. “Well, do you get lonely?”

“Sometimes.”

“I could stay with you,” she whispered. “My room is boring.”

“That would be ok,” Steve answered, moving over to make more room for her on the bed. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to, even if it hurts.”

Margaret skid next to him, looking out his window. The trees were waving in the wind, and she heard the hollow sounds the vents made and the scratching at the windows. “You’re sure there aren’t any ghosts in the vents?”

“Nope. I asked. A lot.”

~*~

* * *

Peggy stopped at the door, Steve walking past her into the empty barracks. “Dr. Erskine says you need to be isolated tonight, though I can’t much understand it.”

He looked over the room and picked a bed in the middle, close to a window, and switched out the pillow for the one on the next cot that looked a little firmer. “It’s ok.”

He sat and cleared his throat, and Peggy got an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. She didn’t want to leave him, felt like she couldn’t. “It’ll be a little lonely, if you can’t sleep.”

Steve looked up at her, pillow in his hands, and just smiled a little. “Well, as long as there aren’t any ghosts.”

Peggy could feel her heart skip a beat and she closed the door behind her. “What made you say that?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “It’s uh, just this stupid thing from when I was a kid. I was in hospitals a lot and—”

“And the vents sounded like ghosts?” Peggy walked over to him and sat on the cot across from him.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, how’d you…”

“September 1929.” She took a deep breath. “I was visiting family and I fell out of a tree playing. They kept me in the hospital overnight for a concussion.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “I was in the hospital so many times I couldn’t tell you a date. But there was this one night… a girl came in my room and she stayed all night. The nurses—”

“They were mad as hell when they found me.” She smiled. “Stevie?”

He laughed. “Margaret?” She nodded. “Wow, I would have sworn I would have never seen her again.”

“I tried to find you the next day, but you were gone.” Peggy licked her lips. “The only reason I made it through that night was you.” He tilted his head, waiting for her to continue. “I liked to tell myself I was brave, but I was very scared. I didn’t like being alone, and I didn’t like the doctors. And you were right… the vents sounded like ghosts.” She looked away. “They locked me in my room so I couldn’t escape before my parents came the whole next morning by myself and I was terrified the whole time.”

It was a long, quiet moment where she held his eyes. “Maybe I should stay,” she whispered. “In case there are ghosts.”

Steve smiled, about to tell her he’d like that, when Erskine came through the door. “Everything in order, Agent Carter?”

She stood quickly, setting her face to stone and nodding at the man. “Yes, quite.”

“Very good. Thank you.” Erskine smiled at her. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Steven in private.”

She nodded, turning away. Erskine didn’t see her stop and look at Steve from the door, or the sadness in her eyes as she left.

She didn’t want to leave him with the ghosts, and even though they smiled at her now and she knew a lot more about what they were doing, the Doctors were still scary.


End file.
